Saturday, August 15, 2015

Urban Ecology Lectures (Ottawa)

This year the Friends of the Farm offered various Tree Walks in the Arboretum. I was really thrilled to hear how popular these free tours were - with up to 100 people attending! Some of the walks planned this year were on traditional topics including Flowering Trees, Tree Identification, Maple Tree Species and Fruit Trees while others introduced newer "urban ecology" topics such as:

From the website: "Birds and Trees are inextricably connected. Trees provide food and shelter to many species of birds, while birds act as agents for seed dispersal and greatly influence the relationship of trees with their insect and fungal pests. Come for a tour of the majestic trees at the Dominion Arboretum during the busy spring birding season, and learn more about Ottawa's birds, trees, and their relationships with each other."

From the website: "When the leaves fall, serious tree-watching can begin. Firstly, trees that were often obscured behind the leaves of others suddenly are visible; this is especially true of evergreens. Secondly, individual tree species tend to grow in recognizable patterns, and for deciduous trees this is best observed in winter. Techniques for how to learn tree recognition from a distance will be explained."
Image from Friends of the Farm newsletter

Why Dandelions?

An Urban Ecology Scrapbook

It all started in 2006 when I bought a house. At first it was an interest in creating a butterfly garden and then it blossomed into a backyard organic vegetable patch. Next I was eagerly reading about hedgerows and native bee condos and finally I went back to school in 2011 for Ecological Restoration hoping to combine my love for ecology with my urban planning degree.

I have always loved what a city can offer but with my new found interests in the natural world I was wondering how we can be more connected to nature, support a biodiverse environment and live in harmony with the planet all while LIVING AN URBAN LIFE.

This is my scrapbook of interesting ideas and articles that I have found online, where I can collect links and information as I learn from others in cyberspace about possible urban nature habitat, how cities can benefit from natural ecosystems (and enhance them!) and creative ways to build and adapt our cities to be more in balance with the natural ecosystem that is around us and THAT ULTIMATELY IS US.